


Black & White

by wabadabadaba



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-28 22:17:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6347743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wabadabadaba/pseuds/wabadabadaba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The answer is simple, he is your soulmate."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Black & White

**Author's Note:**

> I was browsing through Reddit when I stumbled upon this writing prompt and I could not resist. It started writing itself after a while and I am really proud of this.
> 
> The prompt: the world you live in is in black and white, until you meet your soulmate and everything gradually begins to gain color. -violentarmpit

All my life everyone told me that the only colors of the world were black and white; there was no in between. How do you question that when it is everyone's' mindset and you have no proof you saw colors? It is a rhetorical question that I ask myself daily because I can't ask it. I can't prove that I saw color because frankly, I do not even know what color is. Even if someone would believe me how do I describe what I see so rarely? I have no basis of what colors are and I would not even know how to find out if someone does. If someone in society admits that they have seen colors, if they say they know what red or pink or purple looks like they are carted off to a mental hospital. When things like this happen it always brings out a discussion of what is wrong with the person and nobody understands why they would do something so taboo. What I want to know is what is red, pink or purple? Is it the colors I have seen?

It started when I was very young, it was that awkward time where I was claiming to be seven but really I was six and my birthday was still a few days away. My parents decided to take me to the local carnival for an early birthday present. The morning and afternoon were normal, I was having fun, my parents were bickering when they thought I couldn't hear. Everything changed for me mid afternoon. We were walking towards one of the roller coasters when I saw it. It was a burst of color, mind you I have no idea what color it was but I can guarantee it was not black nor white. It was bright and beautiful. It was coming in out of sight and I wanted to ask my parents about it but even at six, very soon to be seven I knew I couldn't. I did the only thing my brain knew to do, I ran after it. 

It kept darting in and out, in and out until finally it stayed and I saw the most beautiful boy in the entire world. He was a little shorter than me, with a cute button nose, with a stripped shirt and jeans and sneakers. His outfit was very similar to my own except he was in color. I wish I could describe what he looked like better but my knowledge of colors is only black and white and I do not know how to describe anything else. I just know he was beautiful. I had never seen anyone or anything look so rich and warm and inviting. I wanted to know why he was in color, I wanted to know why no one else was freaking out about him. Then I realized that if everyone else was seeing him as I was then seeing color didn't mean anyone was crazy. So if I was the only one who saw it, maybe I was crazy. 

It was too confusing for my six, very soon to be seven, year old brain could sort out so I turned away from him and tried to find my parents. They were pissed I ran off but I just accepted my punishment and tried not to think about how I was most certainly a lunatic. Ever since that day about once or twice a year I would see a boy in color again and I thought it just meant I was going crazier and crazier until I realized it was the same boy that I saw at the carnival. There was a huge part of me that just wanted to run up to him and ask him what his deal was but it would be too obvious I was out of my mind and I would be sent away. Sometimes I wanted to be sent away so I could be around people like me but I was also horrified of it as well. There were some terrorizing stories that came out of the mental hospitals and I didn't want to be one of them.

So I kept my mouth shut all these years, especially since I saw him so rarely. Until of course I went to college and I started seeing him everywhere. He was even more beautiful than previous years, he was taller than me now, he used to be kind of round everywhere. I know that is not nice to say but it is true, no less. Now though, he is incredibly fit and active, I see him running all the time. To this day, I have not seen anyone or anything more beautiful than him. There is something in me that draws me to him. It is a feeling deep down in my gut and my heart aches when he is no longer in my sight. I do not know what it all means and I am afraid that if I do not find out then I will definitely drive myself mad. 

&

"Elijah, sweetheart, where are you going? You don't have class today."

I stopped in the hallway and turned to face my mom. "I know but I have a bunch of tests coming up and I wanted to study in the library."

"But it's pouring rain out and it is so dark outside. Why don't you just stay here?"

I tugged on my book bag strap and tried not to get annoyed, my mom meant well. "I get too distracted here. I'll be okay, I swear. If I need to come back and the storm gets worse I will call dad or someone for a ride."

My mother sighed and nodded so I gave in and gave her a hug then left the house and walked in the direction of the school since I knew my mom was watching. When I knew she couldn't see me I turned sharply down a side road that would take me to the mental hospital. What I was doing could destroy my life and my parents life but I was willing to take the risk. I had been doing some research about colors and there are no books on them, at least not in my small town. There was however a Nobel prize winning professor who was admitted to the mental hospital for his research on color. I had to talk to him. I had to figure out what I was seeing and why it was only him I could see in color. Depending on our conversation, if I could even talk to him, I might be admitted and I was willing to take the risk. This boy and his colors had been haunting me for years and I needed answers. 

When I got to the mental hospital they were very surprised I was there and asking to visit someone because they hardly ever got visitors. I had to make up some story about how I was this professor's nephew or something. I don't even remember it was such a flimsy lie but they somehow believed me and I was brought to his room, where he often stayed and read or did more research. 

"Professor Norwich, this is Elijah your nephew. He is here to visit with you."

He stared at me and I could tell he knew the truth but instead of sending me away, he nodded so the nurse closed the door behind us so we could have our privacy.

"Well nephew, it is nice to meet you," he smirked.

"I'm sorry for the lie sir but I had to see you, I have a lot of questions."

"Before you begin, are you sure about this? The answers you are looking for may not be what you want. Not only that but if your parents find out about this, your friends, anyone really, you will become a patient here."

"I'm sure."

"Alright, what brought you here Elijah?"

"When I was six I saw a burst of color at a carnival. I followed it and I saw a boy completely in color and I saw him a few times every year since then. Except, now we go to the same college and I see him everywhere. He is the only person I see in color, I don't see anything else in color. Just him."

Professor Norwich smiled and shook his head. "The answer is simple, he is your soulmate."

&

I walked outside of the building, my head reeling and my heart stammering and my knees weak. I was afraid I was going to pass out (again). It was raining so hard I couldn't see where I was going but to be honest, I didn't really care. The rain was cool so it was bringing my body temperature down and it was making me feel a lot more present and not sucked into a hole how being with Professor Norwich felt like. Once I felt like I wasn't going to pass out I started on my way home, my mind still reeling from all that I learned. I wasn't sure what to do with all of the information, I could have stayed in that room talking about everything for days but Professor Norwich insisted I left so I could process everything. I'm glad he did though because I knew I was different now, it was confirmed, but I wasn't different different in a negative way. My life had meaning, I knew what I was supposed to do, I knew who I was supposed to be with but how do I live my life unashamed and unapologetically when it is frowned upon?

The second I walked into my house it brought me back to reality. My mom was yelling at me because I was soaking wet and my dad was yelling at me because he went to the library but I wasn't there. All of the yelling was crowding my head and I was already so confused and exhausted that I didn't know how to diffuse the situation. I kept trying to get away but they kept badgering me about where I was. I gave up some lie about meeting up with a study group at someone else's house and of course they believed their perfect son with perfect grades who would never seek out a professor specializing in color who is currently in a mental hospital for life. I felt like I was going to pass out again so I told my parents I didn't feel well, ran upstairs, changed as quickly as I could and got into bed under the covers and pretended like I didn't learn the truth about the world I live in.

&

I would love to say that I came to grips with everything relatively quickly but that was not the case. It took me about four months with a handful of meetings with Professor Norwich to even start to accept everything. Accept accept isn't the right word, I wasn't sure how I was ever going to accept that the government is fully aware that seeing colors means finding your soulmate is a wonderful, magical, thrilling and beautiful thing. As Professor Norwich put it, the government is so afraid of people clashing and breaking the norm that they made everyone believe the world is only black and white and seeing color meant you were out of your mind insane would protect everyone. They are afraid that if people start living authentically then the world would become a scary, unpredictable place but if it stays black and white then there is nothing to be afraid of. 

Professor Norwich told me that there is an island, where he isn't quite sure, but it is supposed to house the craziest people of the world; at least that is what the government put out there. Really, it is for the people who have found their soulmates and they get to live together and be together but they had to sign a contract that they would never leave the island and never tell the truth. This whole system works because not everyone finds their soulmate, in fact it is rare to actually find them so there are a only a couple hundred people on the island. They are so happy to be with the person they are destined to be with that they won't fight the government. It is a vicious cycle and Professor Norwich has made me think about what I will decide to do before confronting my soulmate. 

The answer was easy. I will fight as hard as I can to change peoples opinions and views on color. It is not even about the colors, it is about seeing people for who they are, it is about seeing people live life how they want to be that is so beautiful; the colors are just an added bonus. I want to live in world where people get to walk out of their house and be proud of who they are. I want people to be able to be with whomever they want to be with because it is their fate. We are being cheated of a life that is rightfully ours and I will not be sent away because I choose to find the beauty in that. I know that there is a very good chance that I will be sent away and damned from the world but I will not apologize for being who I am and loving who I do.

The scariest part about this life changing decision is that I have no idea on how to talk to my soulmate. It is one thing to find your soulmate, it is another to talk to them and admit what is going on and decide to risk it all to be with one another. I tried to ask Professor Norwich how I should go about introducing myself but he wasn't much help. He said I should just go up to this boy who I am destined to be with and say hi. That's it. Just say hi. There is no way I could ever do that, I can't start our life together with just walking up to him. He doesn't know who I am, he probably doesn't know why he can see me in color. Which is a thought I try really hard not to think about because it makes my heart ache that someone else thinks I am beautiful. 

I had to come up with a plan, I had to figure out some normal but romantic way to meet him. Just bumping into him and saying 'Oh hey, I'm Elijah, your soulmate, what's your name?' wasn't going to cut it.

&

For the past few weeks my mind has only been on how to find my soulmate and how to start a conversation with him. Seeing as how I don't know him, I don't know his schedule so for my normal yet romantic scheme to work, I had to play it cool which was definitely something I didn't know how to do. With every new idea, I wrote it in this pocket sized notebook I started carrying around with me everywhere so if I did get an idea I wouldn't forget it. This often meant writing while I was walking which led to a lot of bumping into people so when I was walking to my next class and bumped into someone, it wasn't out of the ordinary. What was however, the burst of colors that came from both of us when our skin touched. I instantly knew why it was happening and I was absolutely terrified. I didn't want to look up but I knew I had to. I counted to ten and finally looked up and my breath caught in my throat. 

I may not be able to describe color but the feeling of being right in front of him, our skin still touching, and making direct eye contact was unlike anything else I had ever felt. By the feel of his skin against mine I knew I was home, I knew I was where I was supposed to be. There were these waves of color passing through us, almost like they were transmitting these feelings and maybe they were because the longer our skin was touching the longer it felt like I had known him my entire life and that was just with our arms touching. My heart felt like it was too big for my chest, my stomach was swarmed with butterflies, and my mind was finally completely calm.

He sighed and smiled at me. "You have made it very hard for me to actually say hi to you."

I blinked several times trying to process everything. "What?"

"I have been trying to catch you so I could say hi to you for weeks but you always had your nose buried in that book and I knew the only way I could talk to you was to bump into you."

"What? That's not fair, you were just going to say hi?"

He laughed and nodded. "Well yeah, of course. What else was I going to do?"

My mouth dropped and I could not believe a word coming out of his mouth. "This notebook is filled with ways to say hi to you that weren't just walking up to you to say hi. I was going to try and make it romantic but here I am just blubbering on and on, making a fool out of myself."

He laughed and it felt like went straight to my heart causing it to grow wings to flutter. "I'm sorry I ruined all of your planning. What did you ever decide?"

"Nothing. I couldn't come up with anything."

He laughed again. "Well it's nice to know I'm the genius. I'm Leo Madison."

He stuck his hand out for me to shake and it felt so formal but I didn't know what else to do in such a unique situation. My hand was shaking as I put it in front of me, making me feel even more embarrassed but I finally shook his hand and tried not to float away from how euphoric it all felt.

"Elijah Lewis." 

"I feel like we have a lot to talk about so do you want to go somewhere with me?"

"I would love to."

He nodded and finally let go of my hand and started walking away so I followed him and tried to even out my breathing. I thought we would go somewhere private, like his house or something but instead he led to me the abandoned train station and we snuck inside. The only light in the place was the natural sunlight from the few windows so it was kind of hard to see but it felt a little romantic so I couldn't complain.

"I live in an apartment with roommates so going back there to talk about this wouldn't have been the brightest idea," he explained as he sat down against the wall. 

"I understand," I said as I sat down next to him. "I live with my parents so it's not like I could have brought us there."

"I don't really know what to say," Leo laughed. "I have no idea what is going on here. All I know is that from when I was seven I have seen you every year since then and you have always been in color."

"I was six, almost seven," I told him and shrugged.

"Do you know what is happening? Do you see anything but me in color?"

"No, not yet but I imagine we will at some point."

"What do you mean? You do know what is happening, don't you?"

I sighed and nodded. "I do and it's a long story and very confusing so stop me at any point, okay?"

&

"Wow."

I laughed and I know I shouldn't have, seeing as how I was in Leo's position a few months ago but it was kind of funny. 

"I know, Leo, it's crazy."

"So the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach knowing I saw only you in color from such a young age was because I knew subconciously that I found my soulmate?"

"Yes," I replied. "It is, I had the same feeling about you."

Leo nodded and I could see the blush starting on his cheeks. "Well, I hope once you get to know me, the feeling is still there."

I smiled softly and cupped his face and turned him towards me. "I'm going to feel like this for the rest of my life."

Leo had tears in his eyes as he smiled and turned his face into my hand more. I wanted to kiss him, I wanted to kiss him so badly and although we are soulmates we still don't know each other yet and I didn't want to cross a line but I couldn't stop myself. I leaned forward and kissed him and I was thrilled that he didn't pull away. In every movie and book there is the cliche of fireworks going off when two people who are in love kiss. I used to make fun of it so much because it is so cheesy and expected and I just didn't believe it happened. And it doesn't, not really anyway. It felt like there were fireworks going off inside of my body, it was the same sense of home that was washing over me. When we pulled away, that was when the 'fireworks' started but they weren't fireworks. It was bursts of color coming from us and coating everything around us and all at once all the colors Professor Norwich told me about and described started to make sense. Instead of being black, the building was a rusted brown, there were sprouts of green from where grass had grown through the cracks in the floor. 

I jumped up and pulled Leo with me and ran outside to see the world as how it should be seen. The sky was a beautiful blue, the grass a bright green with patches of brown dirt. Flowers in every color, the stop sign was red, the worn down house a pale yellow, birds were black and brown and white and red and blue. Bees were yellow and black. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen and I was so lucky to have witnessed this change with the love of my life by my side. I turned to face him and was happy to see that I was not the only one crying. I pulled him into a hug that felt like it lasted for hours before we decided we had more to talk about.

Luckily, we were on the same page about not running off to the island and fighting the government. We didn't want to start an uproar because we knew that would throw us in the mental hospital faster than anything else. We decided we would just be together and slowly but surely tell our closest friends and families what was happening to us and what the colors meant. Our hope is that the more normal we are, the more normal we make seeing colors and being ourselves be, the better chance we have at changing the world. It was a heavy decision and a very scary one because at any point someone could turn us in but at the end of the day I found who I was supposed to be with and I found who I was and I wouldn't trade it for the dull black and white life I once knew.


End file.
